Quick soft dinner rolls (about 12)

This is adapted from several one‑hour and quick‑rise roll formulas to stay simple and fast.

Ingredients

• 2.5 tsp. instant or rapid-rise yeast (1 packet)
• 240 ml (1 cup) warm water or milk (about 43–49°C)
• 37 g sugar (about 3 tbsp)
• 43 g 3 tbsp) unsalted butter, very soft (plus extra for brushing)
• 5 g salt (about 1 tsp)
• I used 1 tsp Rosemary salt and sprinkled some on top of the rolls as well.
• 300–360 g all-purpose flour (bread flour worked really well)

Method (about 90 minutes total)

1. Combine warm liquid, yeast, and sugar; let sit 5 minutes until foamy.
2. Add butter, salt, and about 300 g flour; mix and knead 3–5 minutes, adding more flour as needed until smooth and slightly sticky dough forms.
3. Let rise covered 20–30 50 - 60 minutes in warm spot until puffed. 
4. Punch down, divide into 12 pieces (~50–60 g each), shape into balls, place in greased pan.
5. Let rise again 15–25  50 - 60 minutes until visibly larger.
6. Bake in preheated oven at 190–200°C (375–400°F) for 13–20 minutes until golden. Brush hot rolls with melted butter.

References: 

1. https://eatdessertsnack.com/old-fashioned-yeast-rolls/
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIc3LaFCMKg
3. https://www.spendwithpennies.com/30-minute-dinner-rolls/

Drop Biscuits

 

Drop Biscuits from Erin Jeanne McDowell

INGREDIENTS

360 g / 3 cups all purpose flour

39 g / 3 tablespoons brown sugar

15 g / 1 tablespoon baking powder

3 g / ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt

113 g / 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch / 1 cm cubes

226 g / 1 cup buttermilk

56 g / 1 large egg

egg wash, as needed for finishing (see Note)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C with the racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt to combine. Add the butter, breaking up the cubes as you add them to the bowl. Pulse until the butter is almost fully blended into the flour; the mixture should resemble a coarse meal.

3. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk the buttermilk and egg to combine. Add to the food processor and pulse until a sticky dough forms.

4. Using a heaping ¼ cup / #16 scoop (see Note), scoop the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, staggering the rows and leaving at least 2 inch / 5 cm between the biscuits. If desired, egg-wash the biscuits.

5. Bake until the biscuits start to show some browning, 25-28 minutes. When you gently press a biscuit in the center, it should spring back slightly.

6. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving warm, or cool completely and serve at room temperature.

Meredith’s Olive Focaccia

 Olive Focaccia

150g sourdough starter

337.5g water

450 grams AP flour

1tsp yeast

105g olives

1.5 tsp salt 

 

1. Bloom yeast in luke warm water
2. Mix everything together (except olives) in kitchen aid with dough hook on low for 4-5 minutes 
3. Wait 20 minutes and add olives
4. Let raise for 4-5 hours in greased and covered bowl
5. Transfer into greased 9x13 pan
6. Cover and rest for 15 minutes 
7. Gently stretch dough into corners and rest 15 more minutes 
8. Dimple and generously cover in olive oil 
9. Bake for 20 minutes on 425°F or until internal temperature reaches 190°
10. Transfer to wire rack to cool

Grandma Helen's Easter Bread

Makes 4-5 large loaves or 3 round loaves

**Use a large, deep pot

1 stick melted oleo (butter) (do first so cools)
1.5 household or 2 small ones of yeast - dissolve in 1cup warm water and salt (Do first)
        **Or 2 Tbs. of instant yeast

Beat 1 dozen eggs
Add 3 cups sugar
        **if using Splenda tends to be a bit sweeter
1/2 mini bottle anise
2Tbs vanilla
2 cups milk
1/2 oz.  + lemon extract
1 orange rind + juice (add a bit more for extra flavor) Add in oleo (butter)

Add in yeast 

Beat well

Knead in 5lbs. flour--add flour as needed until dough is no longer sticky
        **test dough by pressing finger into it; should give lots of bounce back!!

Cover, let rise until double in bulk (about 2 hours)

Punch it down, cover on counter, let sit for an additional 1-2 hours

Cut dough into portions and shape into long torpedo-like loaves Place in SPRAYED loaf pans

Let rise for 3rd and final time

Place in oven at 325* 25-30 mins. ; check on

Ice using combo of powdered sugar and lemon juice, drip over, add sprinkles

"Bittman Bread" Whole Wheat Sourdough Recipe Summary

This is a summary from the Bittman Bread book. I found it very difficult to follow in the book itself, so put this together as a handy cheat sheet. The book still has some great suggestions, detailed instructions, and helpful pictures so I highly recommend it.

1.       Jump Starter: 8 to 12 hours

100 g whole-wheat starter

100 g water

100 g whole-wheat flour

Leave for 8 to 12 hours.

Feed starter.

2. . Dough.

200 g whole-wheat flour

110 g water

Cover and sit for one hour.

 

3. 3.  Season/salt.

Sprinkle with 7 g salt.

Using wet hands, incorporate the salt into the bread. This will take multiple sessions with wet hands each time.

            I think this is too wet. And I think I might cheat and sprinkle on some yeast here, too!                              Alternative is to up my starter game and get it going a few days before attempting this!

Rest 15 to 30 minutes.

 

4. 4.  Fold.

Fold every 30 minutes, four times. Add water as tolerated.

Wetting hands as water.

Pictures of the book show that when the dough appears to be sweating or misty, it has reached its limit.

 

5. 5.    Bake.

                Place pizza steel on bottom rack.

Line pot with parchment paper.

Place dough into the pot and rest for 15 to 30 minutes.

Dust the dough if desired and make a slash.

Move the pot to the oven, one rack up from the steel.

Start oven at 485°, and set the timer for 30 minutes.

At 30 minutes, remove the lid.

Set the timer for 10 minutes and check the bread every 5 to 10 minutes thereafter.

When dark, remove the dough and reduce oven to 400.

Place the dough back into the oven either on the steel or on the rack.

Bread is done at 205 to 210°.

Move to cooling rack.

 Final bread should be about 650 grams.

Panettone

Adapted from Chef Steps https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/classic-panettone-in-one-day

This recipe makes 3 standard sized panettone. To calculate the dough weight required for your panettone molds, multiply the volume of the mold in cm * (.45). For standard molds, it's approximately 800g.

Vega

400g - Buttermilk

22g - Yeast

250g - Starter

400g - Bread Flour

Dough

400g - Bread Flour

265g - Egg Yolks

200g - Granulated Sugar

20g - Salt

Zest of 2 oranges

Zest of 1-2 lemons

1 bean - Vanilla Bean

200g - Butter

475g - Rum (and gran marnier) soaked assorted dried fruits (we used apricots, golden raisins, candied ginger, cherries, prunes)

Instructions

Make Vega:

1) Put the buttermilk, yeast, starter, and 400g of bread flour together in a large stand mixer and mix

2) Rest the vega for for 30 minutes until it's light and fluffy

Make Dough:

3) Add eggs and flour and mix - mix for a long while

4) Add salt, sugar, vanilla bean and mix

5) Add zests (or oils) and vanilla bean -- not extract

6) Mix until shiny and smooth. Dough should be very ribbony and stretchy - fine gluten film

7) Add butter in small amounts, mixing to incorporate after each piece

8) Add fruit and mix.

9) Bulk ferment in bowl: cover bowl with plastic wrap and let it proof until doubles in size

10) Lightly spray counter, dough, hands, bench scraper with vegetable oil and turn out dough

11) Gently shape into a rectangle and very gently fold and stretch to retain air bubbles

12) Shape into a ball and cover with bowl to let rest for 1 minute.

13) Repeat steps 11-12 one or two more times

14) Put 800g of dough into each panettone mold, cover with bowl, and let rest until dough fills the mold

15) Bake at 350 F for 40-50 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees. We stopped at 187 degrees and it worked well.

16) Immediately skewer the molds and turn upside down until cooled completely

17) Wrap when cool to retain moisture.

Sourdough Bagels

This is a blending of this recipe:100% Naturally Leavened New York Bagels with Sourdough
and this one: King Arthur Water Bagels (and simplified).

For the dough:

300g active 100% sourdough starter
350g bread flour*
125g 200g cold water
20g non-diastatic malt
10g salt
*or 350g white whole wheat plus 40g gluten
Water Bath 2 quarts (1814g) water 2 tablespoons (18g) non-diastatic malt powder 1 tablespoon (14g) sugar

1. Mix all the dough ingredients together. I had to add a bit more water to bring it together.
2. Refrigerate overnight.
3. Place dough on counter and knead to make smooth ball. Should take less than a minute since the gluten development happened in the fridge overnight!
4. Divide dough into 8 pieces and make into rounds.
5. Shape the bagels and place on parchment. King Arthur bagel shaping tips here.
6. Let bagels rise one to two hours, depending on how active your starter was and whether you use a proofing setting in your oven.

Boiling and baking:

1. Preheat oven to 425. 
2. Assemble water bath and bring to gentle boil.
3. Place bagels in water, two at a time and boil 30-45 seconds and turn over for another 30-45 seconds.
4. Remove from water and place on another parchment sheet (on a baker's peel if you have one).
5. Sprinkle with seasonings.
6. Repeat with rest of bagels.
7. Depending on your oven, you can bake four at a time or all at once.
8. Bake 20 - 25 minutes until brown to preference.
9. Remove and place on wire rack to cool.

I did four on a baking steel and the bottoms were super crunchy and a bit overcooked for some, but I thought they were perfect.

The other four I did with my new Lloyd Pans Sicilian Style Pizza Pan, and they were less dark on the bottom.

Thanks to Lee Yan of 24 Hour Kitchen and King Arthur for the solid framework!

Whole Wheat Sourdough Foccacia II (and Pepperoni Roll!)

Version II, still adapting from Marcus at The Fresh Loaf (in turn based upon the Focaccia recipe in Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads).
Day 1 - make the dough
400g WHITE Whole Wheat Flour
200g REGULAR(red) WW starter (mine is 100% hydration)
250g 300g water
20 g wheat gluten
8g salt
3 Tbsp (45g) Olive Oil
-Mix everything in KitchenAid, Knead 10 min. (Less wet than version I)
-Put in an oiled container, cover and refrigerate.
Day 2 - make the Focaccia
Flour to roll out dough
Remove from fridge and let rise until ready to turn out into pans.

I made a great pepperoni roll by simply rolling out about a pound of dough, covering with pepperoni and provolone, rolling and then waiting patiently for many hours for it to rise enough to prevent it from being flat and soggy in the center. Baked at 350 on cast iron griddle in oven for about 40 minutes.

Next time might drizzle EVOO and seasonings before rolling this up!

Whole Wheat Sourdough Focaccia

And here's a recipe I am adapting from Marcus at The Fresh Loaf (in turn based upon the Focaccia recipe in Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads).
Day 1 - make the dough
350g 400g 450g WW Flour
200g WW starter (mine is 75% 100% hydration)
300g   275g water
20 30g wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp 60g Olive Oil
-Mix everything in KitchenAid, Knead 10 min. (I left this one wet since it is a focaccia)
-Put in an oiled container, cover and refrigerate.
Day 2 - make the Focaccia
About ¼ cup olive oil
Corn meal (optional)
Remove from fridge and let rise until ready to turn out into pans.


I turned half out in an oiled large cast iron skillet, and the other half into my oiled cast iron Dutch oven.
-With oiled fingertips slowly press the dough out to fill the pan if making pizza. Let it rest 15 minutes, then finish stretching to edge of pan.(it will be slack so this is usually pretty easy).


-Pour remaining oil over dough, or don't if you're not as big a fan of olive oil as I am.
-Let rise 45 min. if pressed for time, or longer if you can (90 min. is the most time I've ever had).

I let the dough in the Dutch oven rise an hour or two.


For focaccia in Dutch oven, I preheated oven to 425 and baked with lid on for 30 minutes, reduced heat to 350 and baked another 10 or 15 minutes until internal temperature is 190 or better (I use a meat thermometer!).


For the pizza crust, I just baked partially at 400 for 20 minutes then cooled it to finish baking as pizza later.


-Remove from oven, let cool on rack for a few minutes.  I like to throw a little extra mozzarella on to melt as it cools.


I’ll update this as I try it more…
1. Focaccia in Dutch oven may have been best thing I ever baked. Great crumb, great taste (I sprinkled a little thyme, rosemary, kosher sea salt, and olive oil on it before baking.)

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread – a work in progress…

Many thanks to “Sourdough Home”, where I found the following table and many tips that have started me on my way to learning to make sourdough
Here are the ingredients for a loaf of the bread:

Weight	Ingredient	Volumetric Measurement	High starter mix
180 grams	Water	3/4 cup	30cc
210 grams	Active Whole Wheat Sourdough Starter	3/4 cup	510
30 grams	Light Olive Oil	2 1/3 TBSP	30
30 grams	Honey	1 1/2 TBSP	30
20 grams	Vital wheat gluten (optional)	2 2/3 TBSP	20
320 350 g	Whole wheat flour	2 2/3 cup	200
8.2 grams	Salt	1 1/4 tsp	8

Pour starter into a mixing bowl. Add the water, salt, honey, and oil. Whisk together.
If you are measuring by weight, add all the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix it all together. If you are measuring by volume, add the flour a cup at a time and stir. After the first cup, add the rest of the dry ingredients. Make sure the dough is well mixed, feeling it to see if the water has been incorporated through the dough. Yes, this means you should use your fingers to feel the dough, massage it, and look and feel for dry spots where flour has not been moistened. If you find such, mix the flour into the dough and get it moistened.

If you want to follow the rest of the directions from Sourdough Home, follow the link above. I have found them to be a bit problematic, so here is what I am doing at present:
I have found a couple things:

• Drier dough makes better bread. The gloppy doughs that I see advocated on many websites do not work for me. I can’t make them taste good, anyway.
• I have tried kneading with my KitchenAid for long periods as suggested, as long as 20 minutes. I don’t think this adds anything after the first few minutes, as I think the 8 hour to 2 day resting/rising/refrigeration periods I have used tend to obviate the need.
• Making this a 2 day project with over nights in the fridge increase the sourness, which I like.
• I love the Le Creuset baking method, but so far have found 450 too hot, but that may be my crappy oven! BTW, I cut parchment paper with a plate as my template to fit in the bottom of the pot – the bed just comes right out!
• Now that I have an oven with bread proofing setting, I can do THREE rises in a day and my last loaf was the best ever! 

I will continue to edit this as I discover stuff. In the meantime, my favorite sites for reference are

• The Fresh Loaf
• Sourdough Home
• Sourdoughs International
• Breadtopia
• King Arthur Flour’s Sourdough Section

Cranberry Pecan Bread

Delicious sweet and tart flavor, great for breakfast, brunch, tea.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

Combine the dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1&1/2 tsp baking soda
1tsp salt

Combine wet ingredients
3/4 cup orange juice
1 T of orange zest
2 T of melted (somewhat cooled) butter
1 beaten egg

Combine wet into dry mix well and add:
1&1/2 cups of cranberries
1& 1/2 cups of pecans
Pour into loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
Cool in pan 15 minutes before removing loaf.

It's also good toasted by the slice with cream cheese on it.

 

Quick one bowl no mixer Banana Bread

3 to 4 mashed bananas
stir in with a fork:
1/3 cup of melted butter
1/2 cup of white sugar or 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
1 beaten egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
add in:
1/2 to 1 tsp of cinnamon- to taste
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
1/3 cup of raisins, or cherries, or chocolate chips
1/4 cup of coconut
bake in 350 degree preheated oven, in a greased loaf pan for 1 hour
or bake in 2 smaller loaf pans for 25 to 30 minutes- both until the toothpick or knife comes out clean
cool on rack
*adapted from recipe found online

Whole Wheat Bread

2/3 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup water
2 TBL honey
1 TBL yeast
---------
3 cups whole wheat flour
2- 4 TBL wheat gluten
1/2 tsp salt


Add all in order to bread machine.

Set for "Whole Wheat" and "1.5 Pounds"

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

2 & 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups skim milk -- tepid
2 whole eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup canola oil (or all olive oil)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup wheat gluten -- (up to 1/3 cup)
5 cups whole wheat flour -- (up to 5 1/2 cups)

Mix yeast and milk then add all other ingredients except last 2 1/2 cups flour with KitchenAid mixer approx. 10 minutes. (Alternatively, a strong bread machine can do all of this.)

Mix in remaining flour with dough hook and knead until smooth.
Allow to double twice and punch down.

Stretch (or roll out and stretch) into baking sheets, cast iron pans or pizza pans coated with olive oil.

Allow to rise in pan for thickness and fluffiness.

Bake at 375 - 400 for 8 - 10 minutes, then remove and toppings of your choice, such as Mario Batali's Pizza Sauce. Alternatively, get oven really hot (450 or more) and cook with toppings until done.

Finish baking until crust when lifted up is golden brown.

Adapted from the Frugal Gourmet Focaccia  recipe from "Three Ancient Cuisines."

Featured Zucchini Bread from ZucchiniBread.org

Ingredients:


One and a half cup of walnuts (chopped)

Zest(rind) of two medium sized lemons

Half a cup of brown sugar

1/3 cup of poppy seeds

Two teaspoons of vanilla extract

Three fresh eggs

Two sticks butter ( 8 oz.)

Three cups of whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour

One and a half teaspoons of cinnamon

Half a teaspoon of baking powder

One teaspoon of salt

One cup of sugar

One and a half teaspoon of baking soda

Three cups of zucchini, finely grated (should be about 3 medium sized ones). Also make sure to wring out the moisture from the grated zucchini and then fluff it again.

Two 1 pound loaf pans (measuring 5 inches by 9 inches preferably)

A sheet of parchment



Preparation:
Here is how you make this delicious zucchini bread,



1. You first need to power your oven and preheat it to 350 F. Next take the two loaf pans and grease the sides and bottom of the pans with butter.



2. Take a sheet of parchment and line the greased pans with it. Make sure to leave a bit of the parchment spilling out of the pan as it would make it easier to take out the zucchini bread once it is baked.



3. Take the chopped walnuts, lemon rind(zest) and poppy seeds and mix them together. Keep this aside. Next, take the butter and beat it in a mixer until it is creamy and fluffy. Add in the sugar and brown sugar and beat the mixture once again until it comes together and doesn't crumble.



4. Take the three eggs and add them into the mixture one at a time and mix it well. Then add in the vanilla extract and the grated zucchini and mix it all together at a slow speed.



5. Now take a seperate bowl and mix together the whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Take this mixture and add it into the zucchini mixture in two batches, stirring the mixture after each addition. Next, fold in the chopped walnuts, poppy seeds



6. Now take the batter and split it between the two loaf pans and see that it is at a uniform level. Place the loaf pans in the preheated oven and bake it for about 40 to 45 minutes. After the bread is baked take it out and let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then transfer the bread onto a wire rack to complete the cooling. Don't leave the bread cooling in the pan for more than 10 o 15 minutes as it can then become quite moist.



Your zucchini bread is now baked and ready to eat.

Recipe: No-Knead Bread - New York Times

Recipe: No-Knead Bread - New York Times

I have not tried this, but will very soon...

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

Sausage Bread

(from Better Homes and Gardens All-Time Favorite Bread Recipes, Courtesy of Uncle Bob's Recipe Book)

1/2 pound bulk sausage
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
one package active dry east
1/4 cups warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt

There are actually lots of instructions for this. But it looks like it could all be tossed into a bread maker fairly easily and so I will try that and update this entry sometime soon.